Animal-trap.



A. C. BOWSER.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 19101 Patented Jan, 23, 1912.

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A. G. BOWSBR.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLIOATIGN FILED DEG. 5, 1910.

Patented Jan. 23, 1912.

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ANIMAL TRAP. APPLICATION FILED DEG. 5, 1910.

1,015,471. Patented Jan.23,1912.

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ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.5,1910.

' Patented Jan. 23, 1912.

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ANTHONY c. Bowsan; 0F MunrHYsBoRo, ILLINOIS.

ANIMAL-T AP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed' December 5, 1910. Serial No. 595,689. v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY. C. Bowsmx,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Murphysboro, in the countyof Jackson and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Animal-Traps, of which the following is a specification.7

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inanimaltraps, and more particularly to that class known as victim-settraps, whereby a great number of rats can be caught by the same withoutre-' setting the trap. I

A still further object of my invention is to provide a trap which isprovided with a main cage having. two compartments and auxiliary cagescommunicating with the. respective compartments, whereby the rats afterentering the compartment of the main cage pass into the auxiliary cage.

Another object of my invention is to provide novel tripping means whichis so con structed that the animal trips the same as he enters the maincage, andas he enters the auxiliary cage he trips a trip plate whichresets the trap.

With these objects in view, the inventionconsists in the novel featuresof construction, combination and arrangement 'of parts,

hereinafter fully described and pointed'out in the claims.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification :-Figure 1 1s aperspective view of my improved trap showing the-same in a set position.Fig. 2 1s a top plan .vlew of the same partly broken away soas toshowthe operating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectionthrough the trap. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section partly brokenaway. And Fig. .5 is asection taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In carrying out my improved invention, I employ a main cage A which isdivided horizontally into a lower rat receiving compartment and an uppermechanism receiving compartment, and said rat receiving compartment isprovided with a door opening at each end having guide members A in whichare slidably mounted doors B having chains C connected to their upperends which are carried by levers D pivotally mounted within the uppercompartment as clearly shown. The lower compartment is divided centrallyinto two compartments by a pane of glass ,E, whereby the animal enteringeither end will see the'opposite door, and the covers A as clearly shownso as to allow the mechanism installed therein which will be laterdescribed to be reached in order to repair the same if necessary.

Each of the lower compartments formed by the dividing wall of glass isprovided with an exit which communicates with a runway F of an auxiliarycage G, one of Fateiited J an. 23,1912.

upper compartment is provided with hinged which is arranged upon eachside of the main cage, and is secured thereto by hooks and eyes H,whereby the same can be easily attached or: detached. These cages areformed exactly alike, and the description of oneis sufficient for both.Each cage Sr is provided with a pivoted tread plate G mounted within therun way F, and to which is connected a link G which has its upperendpivotally connected to the arm I of a pivoted latch I which ismounted within an opening formed in the side of the main cage A, and isprovided with a bifurcated end Pinto which extends a fiat spring I tionshown in Fig. 4:, whereby the tread plate G will beheld in a raisedposition.

Therun way F is covered by a drop,fra1ne J which is pivotallymounted atJ andisa connected to the frame I by a lever J whereby the same will beraised by the arm I when the animal treads uponthe p'lateG in order -toallow the animal to enter the auxiliary cage from the run way.

The upper compartment. of the mainj'cage 907 V is provided with acentral vertical *postA having bearings A .in its opposite sides inwhich are revolubly mounted the inner ends of shafts K which areprovided with key re ceiving portions K at their outer ends, and saidshafts being moun'tedin suitable bear- I lngs on :the s1de .walls ofthe'main cage.

Secured on each of the shafts K is a clock spring L, the inner end ofwhich is "con j nected to the shaft and the outerlend to a pin L asclearly shown in Fig. 5. Y Secured to each shaft K is a disk M which is'provided with oppositely disposed laterally vpro jecti-ng pins M Madapted to co-act with the lever D and a shoulder formed on the latch Ias will be later described- Arranged within the rat receivingcompartments of the main cage are tread plates N} which are supported.in a raised position by pivoted latches O'which are provided withshoulders O co-acting with the pinsM M and-held in the path of the sameby a flat spring P as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The latch O is connectedto the tread plate N by a rod Q, and it will be seen that as the animalenters either of these compartments the tread plate will be compressedby its own weight which will release the spring actuated disk M so as toallow the same to oscillate, whereby the lever D will be released so asto allow the door to drop and inclose the animal therein.

.It will be seen that I have provided duplicate mechanism for operatingthe doors and trip plates of the main cage and auxiliary cage, wherebyeach plate operates independently. The side cages are provided withremovable covers Gr in order to allow the rat to be removed.

The operation of my improved trap is as follows :Supposing that the trapis in a set position as shown at Figs. 1, 3 and 4: as the rat enters oneof the openings at the end of the main cage and steps upon the tripplate, the latch within releases one of the pins of the disk so as toallow the same to oscillate until it is caught by the shoulder of thelatch I, and it will be seen that the lever D will be released by thepin so as to allow the door to drop in order to close the door opening.The rat being held within the compartment in this manner, passes intothe run-way of the auxiliary compartment, and as'it steps upon the treadplate G the latch I is thrown out of engagement with the pin whichallows the disk to oscillate in order to bring the opposite pin intoengagement with the lever D which raises the same so as to open the doorand reset the trap, and it will be seen that this operation is repeatedas each rat enters the trap and passes into the auxiliary cage.

that I claim is 1. A device of the kind described comprising a main cagehaving a door at each end, a transparent transverse partition in saidcage, auxiliary cages arranged upon opposite sides and adjacent oppositeends of said main cage, the auxiliary cages communicat-ing with the maincage upon opposite sides of said partition, means for closing thedoorway of the main cage upon entrance of an animal therein, and meansfor opening said doorway upon passage of the animal into one of saidauxiliary cages.

2. A device of the kind described comprising a main cage, said cagehaving doorways at each end, a glass partition dividing said cage'intotwo compartments, said partition being arranged between said doorways,slidable doors, said doors being normally elevated, means arranged uponeach side of the partition for closing one of said doors upon enteringof an animal through either doorway, auxiliary cages detachablyconnected to the main cage and commul'iicating therewith respectivelyupon opposite sides of said partition, and means carried by saidauxiliary cages for elevating the closed door of the main cage uponpassage of an animal from the main cage into either of the auxiliarycages.

3. The combination with a main cage having a sliding door, of anauxiliary cage provided with a run-way having a pivoted drop frame, of alever mounted within said main cage connected to said door, a springactuated disk provided with oppositely disposed pins engaging saidlever, a pivoted latch coact-ing with the pins of said disk, a pivotedtread plate connected to said latch, a pivoted tread plate mountedwithin the run way of the auxiliary cage, and a. latch operated by thelast mentioned tread plate eoacting with the pins of said disk, wherebysaid disk will be operated intern'iittingly as the animal passes oversaid tread plates.

ANTHONY C. BOVVSER.

\Vitnesses W. C. LUOIEN, H. CRAWFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

